Welcome to the Politicus Pulse. Here are the links you need to see to get your day started off right. Consider this a cup of coffee for your mind.The Prisoners of Guantánamo (Esquire)

After a decade, it’s hard to tell who the captives are — us or them. Here, we follow Prisoner 707 to find out how the unlucky men got to the island prison, and whether it’ll ever be possible for us all to leave.Stories My Father Told Me (Esquire)

When America went to “the dark side” to fight terrorism, she became unrecognizable to the world. That’s when my father took on the case of Guantánamo prisoner number 707 and became unrecognizable to me.

A once-secret CIA history of the Bay of Pigs invasion lays out in unvarnished detail how the American spy agency came to the rescue of and cut deals with authoritarian governments in Central America, largely to hide the U.S. role in organizing and controlling the hapless Cuban exile invasion force.

Forget Comcast and Sunoco — the most powerful economic force in Philadelphia these days is the one making your Shorti. How our homegrown convenience store went from cult favorite … to superpower.American Decline: Causes and Consequences (Al-Akhbar)

Today, NATO has become a global intervention force under US command, with the official task of controlling the international energy system, sea lanes, pipelines, and whatever else the hegemonic power determines.

Ed. note: The second story is approximately two years old, but it goes with the first. And I have to thank Andy Worthington for bringing both to my attention. His story is here.